kaeru koushaku
by enders games
Summary: Not really good at summarys. NarxSaku


**It started with a frog?**

Ch.1 B-day

He sighed as he walked the streets of Konoha at a fairly slow pace. There was nothing to rush home to. 'Never has been,' he reasoned to himself sourly. Dark, hateful eyes peered at him as he passed stores and food places. From his perspective they where all the same, same cold eyes, same hateful unforgiving words, same whispers as he passed, all the same. The same. A society of programmed robots. Programmed to hate him. The older the person the harder the glare, he learned as he grew.

'Why do they hate me? Is it my blond hair? I could dye it… Do they have a problem with my blue eyes? I heard some older kids talk about getting colored contacts before, those might work…or is it just my personality?' he would ponder this over and over.

Heading towards his small one room apartment given to him by the Hokage, he passed the local playground slowly, as he looked at kids his age play with others their age.

'Why are they so happy?'

'Oh ya, they have something to go home to…'

'Lucky bastards.' he thought snorting as he passed a couple of very rambunctious kids playing tag. When they saw him they immediately stopped and stared at him as he passed them. He smiled at them with a fox like grin and they immediately ran away. He sighed and kept going.

He didn't have much of an identity having no clan or family to call his own. Most he had left over was his name, if you considered that much of anything at all, his name was Uzumaki Naruto.

'I'd trade my name for a friend any day. Who needs an identity anyways?' he laughed dryly to himself; this received a few annoyed stares from parents sitting on benches watching their kids play. He just stuck his tongue out and moved on.

"Don't I deserve to be happy to?" he asked the setting sun.

Deciding that this may be the day he walked cautiously towards a group of kids playing in the sand box and coughed uncertainly trying to get their attention. They just continued playing and snickering slightly. He coughed again, this time louder. Still no response, just a few more snickers and a giggle from a blonde girl, the only girl out of the group of three. This time he tried tapping a young boy with short hair on the shoulder. He soon found out this wasn't the best idea as he hit dirt. The kid he had just tapped stood above him with a smirk after just having pushed him.

"Don't mess with me you freak! Trying to do something funny? Well don't!" all the kids who had been playing before got up and ran away giggling from the sand box leaving the shovels, buckets, and a broken Naruto in their wake.

"Guess not." He got up, not even bothering to clean the dirt off from his clothes, and walked to his small apartment. An empty hollow home.

* * *

"Ino! Come on, can I open my eyes yet!" the pink haired girl said anxiously as she hopped up and down on her feet. She was anxious, and why shouldn't she be anxious? Today was her 10th birthday!

Ino, her best friend, had told her to come to her parents flower shop to help out with watering the flowers but surprised her, saying she had a gift for her. This wasn't like Ino.

"Okay, now, forehead girl!" said the girls blonde friend.

Sakura, a.k.a. the forehead girl, immediately moved her hands from her face and opened her eyes. Though she didn't like the nickname her friend had for her, what she saw made all her anger fly away.

"Oh my god! How could you Ino!" she said with a huge smile on her face as she saw a, obviously, hand made birthday cake. She could tell it was handmade because not only was it the color of her hair but also it was in a kind of distorted shape with 'Happy Birthday Sakura!' in green icing in Ino's handwriting on top.

"Oh but that's not all! I didn't have much of my allowance left after buying the ingredients for the cake and some new hair care products for myself but I figured it was the thought that counts anyways!" she said with a impish sparkle in her eyes as she pulled out a badly wrapped gift from behind her back.

"Aw, Ino you are the best!" Sakura said hugging her friend and taking the gift. She gleefully wripped off the wrapping paper only to be unpleasantly surprised. What stared back at her from the torn up paper made her cringe and almost cry out in terror.

"So what do you think! I thought it was adorable and 'had' to get it for you." Ino said happily.

"Oh Ino, you shouldn't have." She said still not being able to take her terror filled eyes off the gift.

"Oh I know! But I just couldn't hold back. You deserve it!"

"No, Ino, you really shouldn't have. I've never told you this but I really, really, really, and I'm serious about this, really hate frogs!" she said jumping away from the present, as if the few feet distance would save her from it opening its mouth and devouring her.

"Oh Sakura, it's just a frog purse! How can you be scared of a purse! For god sakes what a baby. I'd be really pissed at you if it weren't your Birthday and all." Ino said as she picked up the purse and stuck it in Sakura's face.

"Ah!" Sakura shrieked as she fell backwards into some plants. Ino's eye twitched as she offered Sakura her hand sighing as Sakura took it and got up.

'Okay fine, I guess I'll keep it…" Ino said hanging her head and acted like she was crying when she was really just disappointed her plan didn't work.

'Darn it, I was hoping she'd want it! Stupid Aunty gave me this and I don't like it. Seriously who would? Seeing as Sakura's weird and all I thought she'd like it. Darn, I can't throw it away, if my parents find it they'll freak and-" her train of thought was suddenly cut off by Sakura's voice.

"I'm sorry Ino! You went through all that trouble and I'm not being a very good friend! I'll learn to love it! I've been needing something to hold my money anyways." Sakura said with a small smile as she took the frog gingerly from Ino's hand and put it in her own pocket.

"I gotta go Ino, mom and dad are expecting me back before the sun sets. They have a small party planned for me I think." Sakura put on a forced smile and hurried out the door. If she had waited a second more she would have seen Ino's face rise up with a triumphant smirk and no tears in site.

* * *

She sighed as she walked down the near empty streets of Konoha. Businesses where shutting down for the night and people where heading home. She looked up at the faces of the past Hokage's on the great wall above the village and wondered if they ever had to deal with things like this. Friends, can't live with them and can't live without them. She pulled out the frog purse from her pocket and looked at it distastefully.

'Here I thought Ino had good tatste to. She just loves to prove me wrong.' It wasn't even cute, actually it was probably the ugliest little thing she'd ever had the displeasure of coming upon. 'I won't throw it away though, just the fact that Ino gave it to me makes it special, I remember how it was before she became my friend.' As she neared the apartment complexes she heard a faint cry. Curious she headed toward the stairwells only to find a boy huddled against a wall crying.

She hated seeing people cry, it reminded her of her past before when she was bullied for having a big forehead. She walked over to the boy and said in the soothing voice her mother always used, "You okay?"

Rubbing his eyes Naruto immediately stopped sobbing as he heard someone ask him if he was okay.

"Am I okay?" not even realizing he had said it out loud, he was so distressed.

"Well I guess not, it was a silly question. You need some company? I know how it is to cry alone, not a fond memory I gotta tell you." She said sitting next to him on the staircase and looked over at him.

"You wouldn't want me for company, well no one else does at least." He said getting out of his huddled position and wiping is tears hastily with his sleeve.

"Well of course I would! I like to talk with others unless they annoy me and your doing just about anything but that." Sakura said smiling slightly and looked towards the near gone sun. She knew she'd have to be home soon but this was much more important to her right now.

Naruto looked up surprised. Since when did anyone care about him?

"Really is this a dare or something? Cause if it is please stop playing around, I really can take much more of anything." He muttered sadly.

"I'm not playing around," She said frowning," why would you think that?"

He laughed a hollow laugh and said, "I don't know, maybe I'm just weird like that."

Frowning she got up and dusted off her pink skirt she wore just for today.

"I guess you just like everyone else. I'll never make any friend-" he was quickly cut off as she grabbed his hand and pulled him up with her. Before he could protest she was already leading him off.

He blushed look down at her hand wrapped around his own as she dragged him to who knows where.

"Where are you taking me." He said nervously as they ran across the streets of the village. She just smiled back at him and raised a finger to her lips and winked. He blushed even darker red thanking the night sky for hiding it.

'I think I like this girl.' he thought a little embarrassed.

* * *

"By the way what's your name?" she said slowing down as they neared a fairly large house. Naruto looked up at her surprised and muttered.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Well Naruto my names Sakura. Where here." She said happily as she let go of his hand and stopped in front of the house they had been walking towards. She opened the door and ushered for him to follow her.

"SURPRISE!"

* * *

Naruto wasn't prepared for what he saw. Lot's of balloons in many color littered the front hall of the house and a huge banner with the words 'Happy Birthday Sakura!' hung high up above their heads. A large man who was obviously was a ninja and a women with pink hair stood grinning as Sakura ran over and hugged them.

'Her parents? What did she want to rub the fact I'm an orphan into my face?' he thought gloomily as he was just about to make a run for it.

"Mom, Dad, I brought a friend over to celebrate with us is that okay? That's also why I was late." Sakura said after a few more hugs and kisses. Naruto was floating on air the minute she called him her friend, but he was also worried about her parent's reaction. Her father looked over at him with a frown but the mother nudged him in the side to keep him quiet.

"That's great you're making more friends honey! It's fine he can stay for cake." She smiled warmly at him and Naruto grinned back. This was the first time he ever felt accepted.

* * *

Sakura had received presents from both her parents and some of her relatives. They consisted of new clothing, including a red outfit that her mom had gotten her to wear when she would enter the academy, a couple of books from her grandmother, some decorative shuriken, a 'how to kit' on charka molding, and some other nick knacks she'd probably never end up using. Her parents, Naruto, and herself had eaten cake together and had all gotten to talk and joke. Overall it was a pretty good birthday. To bad all good things had to end.

Her and Naruto where standing outside her doorway saying their goodbyes when Naruto sighed.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Well, its just, well I… how should I say this? I feel bad." He muttered looked at the ground and scoffing up a little dirt with his sandal.

"Why would you feel bad?" she looked up at him questioningly. "You had fun didn't you? I did at least."

"No it's just I don't have a present for you. I mean you've been so nice to me and I can't offer you anything in return." He pouted. Sakura started laughing.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me!" he frowned at her as she let out a few more giggles before replying, "Silly you don't need to repay me! This is what friends do! I do stuff for you and you do stuff for me and we have fun, theirs no need to keep track of it."

He smiled, "I think I'm gonna like having you as a friend." Sakura smiled back and said, "Likewise, wanna meet up tomorrow at the playground? Academy tests are gonna be coming up soon so might as well have fun while I still can.."

"Me to, I've failed several times already." He said with a sheepish smile. "Oh so your in the class above me then?" she said with a look of realization. "Guess so, maybe we can train together tomorrow?" he said hopefully. 'I really don't wanna go to the playground again…' he thought.

"Definitely, let's meet at around noon." She replied happily.

"It's a date then!" he said excitedly, then he realized what he said and became embarrassed, "What I meant wasn't date, umm I meant just a friendly gathering, um-"

"Heh, I get it . Don't worry, it's a date." She winked.

He smiled and then quickly kissed her on the cheek and whispered, "Happy Birthday Sakura." She blushed and he ran off.

"I guess he did give me a gift after all."


End file.
